Stress: are you Velcro or Teflon?

“I like to think of people as being one of two types. With Velcro people, when a stressor happens it sticks to them; they get really upset and, by the end of the day, they are still grumpy and fuming,” says Penn State Professor David Almeida.

“With Teflon people, when stressors happen to them they slide right off,” he says. “It’s the Velcro people who end up suffering health consequences down the road.”

Almeida and colleagues found that people who become upset by daily stressors and continue to dwell on them after they have passed were more likely to suffer from chronic health problems—especially pain and cardiovascular issues—10 years later.